Bethlehem Village

Tonight was our ward Christmas Party and the activities committee did an amazing job. Here are the details if you ever need an idea for your own ward! Everyone had to sign in for the census and received a bag of gold. You had to pay your "taxes" in the form of food to donate to the food bank. Each family received a bag of gold to buy food and dreidels. In one classroom was the fruit market (oranges, figs and raisins), next was the dairy (cheese cubes and olives), then lentil soup, and finally, the pita shop. Each family brought a blanket and spread it out in the gym to eat on. In the gym was the Bishop's Winery where you bought your grape juice and a bakery and well to get dessert and water. After most had finished eating, a Roman guard -we have a great guy in our ward from England, so his accent and personality made this even better -came in waving his sword and yelling at everyone to get with their families. The kids weren't sure whether to be scared or not! The the program began, a telling of the Christmas story and acted out with Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus along with the shepherds and wise men. It was so well done...and no tables and chairs to put away at the end. You just had to scrape your car as it was supposed to snow 7 inches before midnight tonight. I think there was more than that, but I didn't get an official count!

Winter Fest

Tonight was Winter Fest at Claire and Rylie's school. We decorated cookies, construction paper mittens, made "snowman soup mix" (in a baggie put packet of hot cocoa, 2 hersheys kisses, candy cane and a spoonful of marshmallows), made bracelets with pipe cleaners, beads and bells and took pictures with Santa. The last event was the one I volunteered for. Tyler is such a help to me. While I was taking pictures, he did some of the crafts with his sisters. This picture wasn't taken tonight, but seemed to be a good place to put it!

Mish Mash

Here is my attempt to catch up a bit:

I love the fall and raking leaves. No seriously! That, and shoveling snow. I really like to do these things! I wanted to to get a picture before the leaves were all gone. This was on November 16th.

The first snow was on November 22. This is one of those "let me take your picture before I yell at you" moments! I was looking for Claire (not uncommon around here) and saw her through the window outside like this. Click on the image to enlarge it to see her pants...they are on backwards!

Rylie and her buttermilk mustache. My kids love doing this with their drinks and laughing at how funny each other looks. What a hoot!

Tyler's school has mandatory tap dancing. Here's a sample!

Halloween

I'm not one to dress up for Halloween, but this year I got inspired, had all the right components and decided to dress up as Napolean Dynomite. Yeah, me and two other guys from the ward. Claire and Rylie are "fairy mermaids".

Getting ready for a birthday party

This is so funny....on Wednesday, we were icing cupcakes to take to school. Claire was unwrapping suckers that we were going to put into the cupcakes as decoration. I left the room and when I came back, Claire stuck one in her mouth. I told her, Claire, don't eat those! She replied that she wasn't eating them, just tasting them. I looked on the plate, and sure enough, about half of the suckers were shiny!

Camping at Devil's Lake

We went camping last weekend at Devil's Lake...the first time we used our new tent. It was also the weekend before Claire and Rylie's birthday, so we called it a birthday trip. We picked up cupcakes and pink, fur-trimmed sleeping bags on the way out of town to make it even more special. Tyler put in the stakes for the tent, and Brian was in charge of fire and food.

Tyler and Rylie

Tyler and Rylie have a special bond...sometimes we think they are the real twins.Devil's Doorway

Hiking at Devil's Lake. The kids did a great job climbing rocks and not tiring during our hiking trip.

High on the Mountain Top
The girls and me high on a mountaintop!